smith



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

R. C. SMITH.

BLBVATOR.

No. 410,212. Patented-Sept. 3, 1889.

I'NVENTOR @MMM e fw.

W1 TNESSES BY M fw A TTORNEY N. PEIIRS. PhMo-Lilhogrvlphlr. walhingon. D. C.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. R. C. SMITH. ELBVATOR.

No. 410,212. Patented sept. 3, 1889.

WITNESSES: INVENTR M57 1 Mfaem ATTORNEY5 N. PEYERS, mwnmognpmr. Wnmngtm 0.1:,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPHF O. SMITH, OF YONKERS, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO OTIS BROTHERS & COMPANY, OF SAME ILAOE.

ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,212, dated September 3, 1889.

Application filed June 14, 1888. Serial No. 277,122. (No model.)

T all whom, it' may con/cern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH C. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Yonkers, in the county of lVestchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electrically Controlled Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relateseto that class of stopping and starting devices for elevators that are controlled by means of electro-magnets; and my invention consists of certain devices fully set forth hereinafter, whereby the operator within the cage of the elevator may make I5 and break the circuits including the controlling-magnets, and whereby said circuits may be automatically broken when the stopping and starting device reaches its desired position.

2o In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation in part section illustrating a part of an elevator-engin e, stopping and starting device, controlling-magnets and connections, and circuit-breaker and connections. Fig. 2

5 is a sectional view of one of the valve devices used in connection with the controlling-magnets. Fig. 3 is aview illustratingr the circuitbreaker in a position different from that shown in Fig. l. Fig. i is a section on the 3o line '74 7i, Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a view in part section illustrating another means for controlling the circuit-breaker from the cage. Fig. G is an elevation illustrating another means of controlling` the circuit-breaker from the cage and of' operating the stopping and starting device. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modified form of the reversing-switch device.

My invention is applicable to various 4o styles of elevating apparatus, having cages or platforms raised by flexible or other connections with hydraulic, steam, or other elevating engines; but I have shown it in the drawings in connection with a cage l, hy-

draulic engine 2, provided with a stopping and starting valve moving in a casing a un` der the action of a pinion upon the shaft carrying a pulley l), as in the well-kn0wn Baldwin hydraulic elevator.

5o It will be evident that where a steam-engine or electric engine is employed the stopping and starting device, instead of being a valve, may be a belt-shifter or switch.

lVhere the stopping and starting device is of such a character as to require the applieation of considerable power to move it, it is common to use an auxiliary engine 2l, having a piston 30 connected with the valvestem 3l, the flow of the motor-fluid to and from the auxiliary' engine 2l. being controlled by a valve 6o or valves operated from the cage, and such valves have been actuated by means of electro-magnets. I have shown such an arrange` ment in Fig. l, illustrating two valve devices 3 and 4, the former in the line of pipe 32, com- 65 municating with the lower end of the auxiliary cylinder, and the latter in theline of pipe 33, communicating with thev upper end of said cylinder, and the valves of said valve devices are so constructed as to control the admission 7o and discharge of water from either end of the cylinder in such manner as to raise, lower, or hold in position the piston SO and t-he main valve connected therewith. Thus in the construction shown in Figs. l and 2 the casing] 75 is divided into three internal chambers, one section of the pipe 32 communicating with the chamber at the right and the other with the central chamber. The valve-stem 7o carries two valves l Z, closing alternately ports on So opposite sides of the central chamber, so as to put the latter in communication with both sections of the pipe 32, or with the left-hand section, and with an inlet-pipe Z By shiftin g the valve either the motor-fiuid is directed 8 5 through the left-hand section of the pipe 2 to the engine 2l or the discharged water from the engine passes up said section to the central chamber and out of the right-hand or waste section. The armature 8O of each elec- 9o tro-magnet 5 6 is connected with the valve of a valve device Sl, which, by changing the pressure on the piston S2, shifts the valves Z Z, as in the weil-known Ongley electric device.

An electro-i'nagnet 5 has its armature connected to operate the valve in the casing 3, and an electro-magnet G has its armature connected to operate the valve in the casing 4. These parts are so arranged that whenever Ioo the circuit is completed to excite either magnet the latter opens the adjacent valve to admit pressure to one side of the piston 30, and when the circuit is broken the valve closes, so as to cut oit the pressure, but open the discharge to permit the movement ot' the piston when pressure is admitted against the opposite side. It will not be necessary to fully describe these features of the apparatus illustrated, inasmuch as they are well known to those skilled in the art and constitute in themselves no essential part of my invention.

A[-Ieretofore the electrically-controlled valves of such apparatus have been operated by currents directed by switches within the cage, in such manner that it has been impossible for Vthe operator to know the position to which the main valve is set, except so far as he can judge of the same by the speed of movement of the cage. In order to obviate this defect, I provide means whereby the operator may complete and break the circuit, including each electro-magnet, so as to apply or remove the pressure to operate the main valve, and whereby the parts of the circuitcontrolling device change their position according to the position of t-he main valve, and such change is indicated to the operator, while the circuit is automatically broken as soon as the main valve reaches its desired position.

In carrying` out my invention vI make use of a circuit-breaker in two parts, one ot' which is moved and controlled in its position by the operator, while the position of the other is determined automatically by the position of the main valve. These parts may be constructed in diierent ways, but, as shown in the drawings, the part under the control of the operator is a disk 24, of non-conducting material, or having a peripheral portion of non-conducting material and turning upon a central axis, and provided with an operating-handle 25. The peripheral portion is cut away at 011e side to make a dat face .fr upon opposite sides of the point, where a contact-plate 18, secured to the disk, breaks the line of said face, so that a conductor traveling along said face must contact at one point with said plate 18.

The other part of the device which is controlled by the position of the main valve consists of a disk 40, concentricI with the disk 24, and carrying two separated and insulated contacts 15 and 16, each of which bears upon the edge of the disk 24, and when the latter is turned to a sutlicient extent will, in travcontact 15 a circuit is completed through the magnet 5 and the valve of vdevice 3 is opened,

land by bringing the plate 18 into contact with the contact 16 a circuit is completed with the magnet 6 and the valve of the valve device 4 is opened, while by removing the plate from position with the contacts 15 and 16 each valve is restored to its normal closed position.

lf the disk 40 and its contactswere stationary vor Iixed, the movement of the disk 24 in either direction would finallybring the plate 18 into contact with the contact 14 or 15, and so long as the contact with either was maintained the connected valves would remain open and the movement of the main valve would continue, but it would be impossible for the operator to know with any certainty the position which the main valve occupies at any time. It will be evident, however, that it' one of the parts of the circuit-breaker is so connected with the main valve as to move therewith the position of such part will at once indicate to the operator the position of the main valve, and the operator may discern with precision the proper time with which to make orbreak the contact between the part 15 or 16 and the part 18.

One means of connecting the main valve and the disk 40, carrying the parts 15 and 16, is shown in Fig. 1, and is constructed as follows: An endless rope 8, which may extend through the cage, so as to constitute a handrope, passes roundv guide-pulleys and round the pulley b, and is connected to one end of a lever 9, which supports a pulley 13. Round the pulley 13, and round a drum 14, connected with the disk 40, passes an endless cable 22, which is suspended within the well and in the loop of which hangs a pulley 23, to which is attached a weight 41, the endless cable 22 being thus connected with the cage by its connection with the drum 14, and traveling as the cage moves freely round the pulleys 13 and 23. -When,however, the pulleybis turned on the raising or loweringof the main valve, the cable 8 is caused to travel in one direction or the other and the lever 9 is raised or lowered, thereby raising or lowering the cable 22, and thus turning the drum 14 in one direction or the other, carrying with it the disk 40 and the contact parts 15 and 16. A finger s extends from the drum adjacent to a graduated plate U D, so that the operator can more readily perceive the extent to which the drum and its connected parts have been moved, and the parts arev all so connected and arranged that when the main valve is in its mid or closed position the finger s will be vertical, and when the main valve is depressed, so as to cause the descent ot the cage, the iinger s will swing to the right, while when the main valve is raised to cause the ascent of the cage the finger will swing to the left, the distance between the middle graduation and the finger indicating the extent to which the main valve has moved from its mid-position v in either direction.

In operating the above-described device,

ITO

the parts when at rest occupy t-he positions shown in Fig'. 1, and if the operator desires the cage to rise he turns the disk 2l until the plate 18 contacts with the arm or contact l5, when the main valve will begin to rise, the operator continuing to hold the disk 24 stationary by means of the handle 25. This movement of the main valve, however, will at once impart motion to the rope S, so that the lever is depressed, thereby rotating the disk 40 in the direction the contrary ot its arrow and carrying the contact 1S away from the contact and on to the insulated portion of the disk 2l, when the electroanagnet 5 is at once demagnetized and the valve of the device 3 is closed, the further admission of tiuid to the engine 21 is arrested, so t-hat the piston and the main valve are brought to rest, and the movement of the disk is discontinued, with the pointer s in such a position as will indicate the extent to which the valve has been moved.

The above-described operation will open the main valve to a very limited extent only, inasmuch as the disk 4:0 begins to move as soon as the contact is made between the parts 15 and 18, and the part 15 Vthereafter passes from the part 18. It a greater movement of the main valve is required, the operator continues to move the disk 2l so as to cause it to travel with the disk -iO and maintain the contact with the parts 15 and 18, andthe main valve will thus continue its movement until the operator ceases to turn the disk 2l, when the part 15 will immediatelybe carried from the part 18, and the further movement of the main valve and its connected parts will be arrested. A similar effect is produced in connection with the valve of the device 1, when the disk 24. is turned to bring' the part 1S into contact with the part 1G.

Although in Figs. l and et the eircuit-breaker is shown as being carried by the cage, this is not essential, as it may be upon a stationary part of the apparatus, the part 18 being operated from the cage through the medium of any suitable devices. Thus in Fig. 5 the disk 2l is shown as provided with a central hub 42 and wing i3, iitting within the circular casing 41, provided with a partition 45, forming two chambers on the opposite sides between said partition and the wing 43, and these two chambers communicate through iiexible pipes and 51 with tubes 60 G1, leading to similar chambers in the casing 40 upon the cage provided with a partition 47 and inclosing a hub 4:8 upon a shaft to which is connected an operating-handle 25, from which hub extends a wing' 49. By moving the handle 25 water or other liquid is forced from one of the chambers of the casing 4G into the connected chamber of the casing eti, and the hub ft2 and the disk 2i, connected therewith, are turned in one direction, a reverse movement being' imparted by swinging the handle 25 in a reverse direction. The movement of the disk 2l is also transmitted to the handle 25, and indicates to the operator the position of the valve, as before. Another means for operating the part 24 of the circuit-breaker at a distance from the cage is illustrated in Fig. G, in which such part is shown as geared with the mainvalve rod 3l and provided with a ratchet` wheel G, which may be turned by the vibration of a double pawl or escapementlever F, pivoted to a standard and actuated by the vibration of the lever of an electro-magnet C, a spring 54 serving to move the lever 53 in one direction, while a reverse movement is imparted upon exciting the magnet. The extent to which the ratchet G and its connected parts is turned will depend upon the numberof vibrations imparted to the pawl F, and these will depend upon the extent of the movement of a toothed circuit-breaking wheel R, arranged upon the cage, provided with an operating-handle P and pointers and operating' on contacts M N, connected by flexible conductors with the electro-magnets.

It is of course necessary to turn the ratchet-wheel G sometimes in one direction and sometimes in the other, and for this purpose the wheel is provided with two sets of ratchet-teeth in reverse directions, and the pawl F, while normally engaging with one set of the teeth, is adj ust-able so as to be thrown into engagement with the other set when desired. Different adjusting means may be employed. For instance, the pawl is pivoted to the lever d at t, Fig. 7, so as to swing upon said pivot to engage with either ratchet g or b of the wheel G, a spring c tends to throw the pawl into engagement with the ratchet-teeth of the wheel Zi', and an electro-magnet I is arranged to act when excited upon its armature t' and throw the pawl into position to engage wit-h the teeth of the ratchet-wheel G., a stop q preventing the actual contact of the armature with the magnet.

The exciting ot' the magnet l and the reversing of the position. of the pawl are eiiected by completing the circuit by means of a key or circuit-breaker in the cage, preferably con nected with the operating-handle P, so that said circuit is completed whenever the said handle moves to one side of the center of the plate U D.

lYithout limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, l elaiml. The combination, with the cage and starting and stopping' device and controlling electro-magnets ot' an elevator, of circuits including said magnets and extending to the cag'e, and a circuit-breaker in two part-s, one connect-ed with an operating-handle within the cage and the other connected with the stopping and starting device to be moved with the latter to break the circuit as the said device attains its desired position, substantially as described.

2. The cembination,with the cage, stopping and starting device, and controlling electromagnets of an elevator, of electric circuits in- IOO IIO

cluding said magnets, a cireuit-breaker-cony sisting of two parts movable about a common center, one capable of being moved by thel attendant and the other connected to move with the stopping and starting device, substantially as described.

3. The combination,with the cage, stopping and starting device, and controlling-magnets and circuits of an elevator, ot' two disks, one carrying two contacts in each circuit with one of the magnets, another carrying a contact in circuit with both magnets, arranged, substantially as described, to permit the latter Contact to be broughtinto connection With either of the former, one of the disks being connected with the stopping and starting device to move therewith, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the controllingmagnets of an elevator, of a circuit-breaker in circuit with said magnets and consisting of two disks, one carrying two contacts 15 1G, and the other carrying a contact 18, and

with a peripheral non-conducting material cut away to permit the contact `15 or 16 to meet the contact 18 at one vpoint on the revolution of either disk, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination,with the cage, stopping and starting device, its pulley b, the controlling electro-magnets and circuits, of a circuitbreaker in the cage consisting of independent disks carrying contacts, and a cable passing round a drum connected with one ot said disks, round guide-pulleys, and round the pulley b, substantially as set forth.

6. The circuit-breaker combined with the cage and stopping and starting device of an elevator, and consisting of two parts', oneprovided with an operating-handle, the other provided with a pointer and connected with the stopping and starting device to move therewith, substantially as set forth.

RUDOLPH C. SMITH. Witnesses:

J. R. SEWERIA, vWILLIAM Moliner. 

